Gala Nets $65,000 for Cancer Society

American Cancer Society’s California Spirit VIII, Gourmet Gala, held Aug. 2 at North Beverly Park, was hosted by Wolfgang Puck and Sherry Lansing. The garden party featured food from Chinois on Main, the Grill, the Mandarin, Spago, Tommy Tang, Toscana and other area restaurants. The benefit netted $65,000 for research, education and services for cancer patients and their families. Pati Miller Gianne and Kelly Brown were co-chairs.

Anti-Defamation League’s June 6 tribute to sports attorney/agent Leigh Steinberg at the Regent Beverly Wilshire raised more than $165,000, with $100,000 going to the Dr. Warren & Betty Steinberg Education Foundation and $65,000 to ADL’s fund.

City of Hope support chapters in Southern California turned in more than $10 million at the 1992 Summer Roll Call at the Beverly Hilton July 26. Contributions from support chapters are turned in four times during the year. Funds go to the $235-million annual operating budget of the City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute, which conducts programs in cancer patient care, research and medical education in leukemia and other forms of cancer.

Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women will receive $25,000 raised at the “Laughing Back: Comedy Takes a Stand” benefit June 27. The event, sponsored by LACAAW in conjunction with the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault, was hosted by Delta Burke, with appearances by Kathy Bates, Sharon Stone and Meshach Taylor. Stand-up comics included Janeane Garafolo, Ellen DeGeneres, Diane Ford, Ritch Shydner, Diana Jordan and Judy Gold. The show, produced by Dalrymple Productions, was picked up by Lifetime Television as an entertainment and educational special. It will air Aug. 25.

Friends of Caregivers for the John Douglas French Center for Alzheimer’s Disease netted more than $15,000 at a June 19 fund-raiser. Following a performance of “Unfinished Stories” at the Mark Taper Forum, guests attended a reception at the Los Angeles Music Center’s Salvatori Room at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. The center raises money to help those caring for victims of Alzheimer’s Disease and other dementias.

Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge announced the receipt of a $5,000 grant from the Mary Pickford Foundation. The gift will go to the Edwardian Tea Garden, which will showcase fragrant tea roses, companion plants and a seating area.

America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Los Angeles Chapter, held its annual Awards Concert June 15 at Century Plaza Hotel. The event, attended by more than 300 people, netted $29,000. Proceeds will provide scholarships for gifted young artists in Israel. In addition, a $50,000 donation from the Max and Pauline Zimmer Family Foundation Endowment Fund was announced.

Home of Guiding Hands raised $7,000 at its annual fashion/luncheon/boutique benefit June 10 at the Encino home of Joy McCarthy. HGH, a Lakeside residential facility for the developmentally disabled, cares for more than 240 clients.